Adaptive controller based on grid impedance estimation for stable operation of grid-connected inverters under weak grid conditions

An electric grid having high impedance seen from the connection point is considered as a weak grid and it adversely affects the system stability of grid-tied voltage source inverters in renewable power devices. In this study, an adaptive controller is proposed by configuring the settling time of the phase-locked loop based on the estimated grid impedance. Pseudorandom binary sequence injection and Fourier techniques are carried out for grid impedance estimation. Impedance-based stability analysis is performed for a predetermined steady-state operation point. The proposed method is verified by a 300-kVA inverter prototype for wide-range grid impedance varying from 0.3 to 3 mH.